Every year brings its own problems and joys in the garden, and what went well last year may not grow well in the following year, or vice versa. Last year our big problem was too much rain, while this year we are experiencing a drought. This is good news for our tomatoes which became diseased last year, but bad news for a lot of the other crops. However, the zucchini does not seem to be effected either way. We have now dried and/or frozen marjoram, oregano, coriander, dill, peppermint and mint. I began making pesto, and already have 1 batch of purple basil pesto and 2 green in the freezer. The broccoli was devoured by caterpillars and the butternut squash never came up. The cucumbers are growing in great numbers, but they are bitter from high temperatures and lack of rain. We have a few of the wonderful broad beans again, but the aphids did their damage. The garlic crop was much better this year, using a combination of big elephant garlic from Marikanéni and smaller garlic from the nice ladies at the Garden Centre in Edeleny. Kata braided about 40 together for drying. We must have planted over 100 onions, but they have been pulled by something/someone, not sprouted, or just disappeared. Maybe they will surprise us next year. The big surprise for me is the watermelons. According to the literature these are very sensitive, but we have 10 medium-sized round melons almost ready for picking. Supposedly if you knock them and hear a „think" they are still unripe, a „thank" means they are getting there, and a „thunk" means they are ready. When I explained this to Kata she asked, "OK, and in Hungarian?" Youtube has offered some answers: if the side sprout where the main vine and the watermelon vine meet is brown, and if there is a yellow patch on the melon, it is probably ripe for picking. The big green pumpkin and Cucurbita pepo vines are huge and full of flowers, but for all that for some reason there are only 2 in evidence. We planted over 75 tomato plants raised from seed, something like 7 varieties. The vines are now full with the first cherry tomatoes just starting to ripen. We are still battling the Colorado beetles on the potatoes, but for the most part our plants are healthy. While we may not have a huge crop of potatoes from the new vegetable bed, the potatoes are healthy and delicious. The cabbages are looking good, as is the horseradish. The rhubarb is also coming into its own, but we have to wait another 2 years before the roots are strong enough to harvest from the plants.

Our fruit trees again disappointed us this year, but we got an excellent deal on blueberries in Szendrő from the little vegetable-fruit store - only 2000 huf/kg! We bagged 2kg in 250g baggies for freezing (American pancakes!) and turned 1kg into jam.  The elderberries are just ripening, and we made several jars of jam to compliment our bottles of elderflower cordial. We will also freeze the berries whole.

While we were in Jászapáti last week, our house guest had to deal with a tragedy - it seems that our swallows and their 4 newborn chicks were attacked by other swallows and their nest fell down. Ági was able to save 1 of the chicks and keep it alive until we came back. Even though she did not handle the bird and placed it in a box with straw high up, the parents completely ignored it. We brought the chick into Sandor Boldogh at Aggtelek National Park and one of his colleagues kept it fed, healthy and taught it to fly. The chick flew off on its own late this week.

The severe drought has meant that there have been no mushrooms either. However last week there were some thunder storms and even hail, so the class thought we should give it a go. Our teacher Béla Szűcs chose the forest near the May Day Park in Miskolc for the excursion. The day was a real scorcher, 37C in the shade, but it was slightly cooler in the woods. The terrain was not difficult, and an immediate good sign was that we found 4 varieties of mushroom in the parking lot. 51 types were identified in all. I found about 10 different mushrooms, such as quite a few of the edible (unless the flesh is spotted) spindleshank, a couple brittlegills, and a very nice yellow-cracking bolete. Zsolt and Zsoka probably had the find of the day, a massive, deformed but edible beefsteak mushroom that must have easily weighed 1kg. They also came up with a big poisonous rooting bolete. Along the way, we also visited the Kecske-lyuk (Goat Cave), home to hundreds of bats. The full list of mushrooms found is here and the photo gallery here.

Last year we missed the annual Kolorcity Festival held in and around Miskolc and Kazincbarcika. There are some really big names this year including LGT, Charlie and Demjen in a double-header, Bea Palya, Magda Ruzsa...Last night we caught actor Balázs Galkó reciting poems by József Attila, and Bea Palya's free concert at the Fignár Festival Courtyard in Dubicsány.

Kata and I first took some time to look around at the small stalls featuring a bag maker Foltos Boglár, leather worker Fanni Simkó, ceramist, and used book seller. Lots of kids and a couple big ol' basset hounds roamed about. A couple of the outbuildings such as the former summer kitchen have been converted into exhibition spaces, a bar, movie theatre, cool out area...Hilltop wine was on hand, and I had a rose spritzer which went down too fast and went right to my head.

Galkó gave a very good, professional job of reciting Attila Jozsef's poetry, but this level of Hungarian just goes right over my head. Hell, most of the time I do not understand or like English poetry with the exception of Neil McCarthy and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Neil has recently returned to Vienna and launched "Whisking the Words," nights of poetry and whisky. His next event will be on September 8^th.

Bea Palya and guitarist István Toth's first set consisted mostly of "world music" rather than Hungarian folk. While undeniably she has a great voice, both the singing and her movements on stage seemed artificial and insincere. It was not until the second half of the show that I felt that her sincerity came through. The change occurred when she picked up a drum, the crowd got into it, and a genuine smile lit up her face. This tune was very good, as was her song about her ex-boyfriends.

My only complaint about the evening was the lack of food. The event started at 5pm, and it being a festival site I fully expected something besides alcohol - maybe chimney cakes, fried dough, crepes, or even just corn on the cob, but there was nothing. If they managed to get a liquor licence, they should have been able to get a food licence - and if not, a retailer with a food licence could have been invited.

We will be checking out Balkan Fanatik in Edeleny on Monday night.